APC Special Article in the NYT

For those who live in New York and haven't met their minimum smugness requirement, here's a New York Times piece about APC founder, Jean Touitou, and the new APC store on Bleeker and Perry.

According to the article, I appear to be the only man in New York who doesn't "know where to get the best made-to-measure fine-wale corduroy suit" and wouldn't be interested in "which quirky sock would look oh-so-surprising peeking out from beneath" "the right cordovan shoe to wear with it."

apc sure is hard to find - very exclusive. it's not like every barney's coop carries the entire line.

The article makes it pretty clear that's that's a deliberate strategy, which I didn't know. Most brands on that level want to give the appearance of exclusivity but quickly abandon the pretense once they catch on. Touitou actually seems to believe in the idea of staying under the radar commercially as well as aesthetically. The endless aphorisms the author quotes aren't simply gnomic, they're mission statements. They reflect a tendency toward practical dogmatism that I've observed in several of the French musicians I've worked with over the years. They sound like they're writing manifestos, but they're really just trying to be in the right frame of mind to get the work done. I appreciated Caramanica's discussion of styles and inventory. I'll stop by the store this weekend and take a look -- possibly tomorrow, since I'll be passing by while doing errands.